Court remands Saradha group chief to CBI custody

Besides CBI, ED is also probing the matter and has questioned several people including Bollywood actors and some ministers in Mamata Banerjee govt

A court here today remanded chairman of Saradha group Sudipto Sen to CBI's custody till August 26 as the agency plans to verify some more names of politicians who allegedly were beneficiary of the chit fund scam.

Sen's custody was taken along with the official of East Bengal football club Debabrata Sarkar who was also arrested in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam yesterday for allegedly acting as a middleman between the Saradha group and regulatory bodies like SEBI.

Sarkar was also sent to CBI's custody till August 26, CBI said. CBI, on the directions of the Supreme Court, began its probe in the scam in which it has registered a number of cases in West Bengal and Odisha.

Trinamool MP Kunal Ghosh and Sudipto Sen are main suspects in the case who are named in the FIR.

Besides CBI, Enforcement Directorate is also probing the matter and has questioned several people including Bollywood actors and some ministers in Mamata Banerjee government. During its fresh round of questioning, CBI will quiz Sen on a few other names that have surfaced during investigation being carried out by the agency, the sources said.

CBI had arrested Sarkar yesterday for allegedly being the middleman between the Saradha group and bodies like SEBI.He was arrested in Kolkata, they said. CBI had earlier taken into custody six people in connection with the scam. The sources said Sarkar is accused of conspiring with Saradha top brass in the alleged misappropriation of funds of the company. CBI has formed a Special Investigating Team (SIT) headed by Joint Director Rajeev Singh to also probe the role of Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and RBI.

"Investigation conducted so far puts a question mark on the role of regulatory authorities like SEBI, Registrar of Companies and officials of RBI within whose respective jurisdictions and areas of operation the scam not only took birth but flourished unhindered," an apex court bench headed by Justice T S Thakur had said in its order.